Region lords can set their troop prices

[Vivalas]

Basically the idea is to allow region lords to see the cost per 10 men of their recruitment centers, and allow them to change the buying price to make a profit or foot some of the bill for the army.

For example a lord with the best infantry center in the realm that is fully upgraded to 200 men could make 40 gold per 200 men just by raising the price 2 gold per 10 men.

Likewise, a really benevolent ruler could lower the prices of their centers dramatically to encourage a certain unit type or make refitting easier for their knights, at the cost of large sums of gold to their personal expense.

The actual cost would be secret of course, so this could lead to interesting options for intrigue and intrarealm conflict. People could accuse lords of charging exorbant fees and setting the price higher than necessary or lords could create a good public image of themselves by pretending they lowered the price when they actually didn't etc.

[JDodger]

So the lord of the region foots the bill if they recruit them out at a loss?

[Wimpie]

I kind of like this idea of making profit or paying it out of your own pocket in case you want to lower your prices. How that could be done more technically I'll leave aside for the moment.

However, what I think will happen is region lords systematically increasing the buying price of their recruitment centers. Because face it, everyone wants more gold  :)

[Vita`]

I am intrigued by this. But I definitely do not think the cost should be secret.

[JDodger]

I can see this needing checks and balances though.

[Vivalas]

Hm, I suppose it could go without being secret but it would be a bit more interesting otherwise.

And yes, the region lord pays or gains the difference in troop prices.

[Chenier]

Hm, I suppose it could go without being secret but it would be a bit more interesting otherwise.

And yes, the region lord pays or gains the difference in troop prices.

As long as we think of a way to not just create a money printing machine, where lords set the cost to 0 and just accumulate thousands of golds' of debt.

On a tangent, perhaps consider potential applications of the war chests to recruitment instead of just repairs. A return to a more collectivistic approach would be beneficial, in my opinion. The social changes combined with the decrease in density have made waging wars a lot harder than they used to be, with the result of them becoming more infrequent in at least many places.

[Vita`]

As long as we think of a way to not just create a money printing machine, where lords set the cost to 0 and just accumulate thousands of golds' of debt.

I think it would be best as a one-time payment. You pay to reduce the costs of a certain number of soldiers and once that number is up, it goes back to normal costs. Of course, we would then have to start tracking number of soldiers recruited from the center and reducing the counter of subsidized soldiers.

For example, Lord Kepler of Keplerville decided that the Kepler Guards, a 200-man center costing 45 gold per ten men, should cost 40 gold per ten men for the next 600 soldiers. So he pays 300 gold now and the a counter is established tracking that next 600 soldiers recruited from that center. When the counter hits 0, price goes back to 45 gold per ten men. If he had wanted to reduce the cost to 10 gold per ten men for 600 soldiers, it would've cost 2,100 gold. Perhaps there should be an 'administration fee' extra cost for subsidizing unit costs.

[Vita`]

I think it's been approved to expand war chest subsidies, and to provide sponsors with a checklist of which things their war chest subsidizes, so they have some choice of where their money is being spent.

[BarticaBoat]

Set it up like a guild treasury, centre costs 50 for 10 men and the lord sets the price to 40 and puts in 500 gold. When people recruit from the centre they pay 40 and the difference is drawn from the treasury. The treasury can't accumulate debt so only 50 men would be recruited at a subsidized rate. Likewise if the price is set higher, treasury accumulates gold and the lord can take gold out.

[Chenier]

I think it would be best as a one-time payment. You pay to reduce the costs of a certain number of soldiers and once that number is up, it goes back to normal costs. Of course, we would then have to start tracking number of soldiers recruited from the center and reducing the counter of subsidized soldiers.

For example, Lord Kepler of Keplerville decided that the Kepler Guards, a 200-man center costing 45 gold per ten men, should cost 40 gold per ten men for the next 600 soldiers. So he pays 300 gold now and the a counter is established tracking that next 600 soldiers recruited from that center. When the counter hits 0, price goes back to 45 gold per ten men. If he had wanted to reduce the cost to 10 gold per ten men for 600 soldiers, it would've cost 2,100 gold. Perhaps there should be an 'administration fee' extra cost for subsidizing unit costs.

Fair enough, but it becomes two distinct mechanics, one of them is to subsidize with set amounts upfront, the other is to tax per transaction as they come.